Supervisors sworn in

LAKEPORT -- To an almost packed room, District 1, 4 and 5 supervisors Jim Comstock, Anthony Farrington and Rob Brown took the oath of office at the Lake County Courthouse Tuesday morning.

District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith then became the new appointed chairman of the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS), a position previously held by Brown, during its first meeting of 2013, with District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing appointed vice chair.

Several items on the agenda sparked debates between the supervisors, community members and other officials at the meeting.

One was the efficiency of patient transportation from one hospital to another.

Policy dictates county fire departments transport patients, but response can be slow because of a small number of available units, Lake County Public Health Director Dr. Karen Tait said.

"We are trying to get optimal patient care," she said.

One option was to bring in third-party companies, such as Verihealth, to help with transportation.

Several supervisors, however, voiced concern about bringing in private companies.

"Private enterprise can't always do what's best for the community," Brown said.

Rushing was also apprehensive with privatization, and Comstock said he wanted to see public services left to the public.

The BOS ultimately decided that a committee, which will include Brown, should look at the policy to see what changes can be made in general terms without a private company in mind.

The lease agreement between the county and Kelseyville Unified School District for the Gard Street school campus for use by the Child Support Services Department, while still in its early stages, was another hot topic.

The project would cost an estimated $400,000.

"We are asking for conceptual approval on spending mere time to further refine numbers and work out details," Department Administrative Officer Alan Flora said.

Those opposed to the department moving from its current Lakeport office said the city would suffer from relocating roughly 30 jobs elsewhere. Various other county offices are also located in Lakeport, the county seat, and opponents said residents would have a harder time traveling longer distances to go from one office to the next.

Farrington suggested looking at other available options before settling on the Gard Street school campus and bring back findings to the BOS.

Although some concerns about the cost and accuracy of images from Blue Water Satellite were raised, the BOS approved the project that would take 24 satellite images around Clear Lake.

The proposed images, to be taken during a two-year period, would cost $43,200. The county will use them as documentation for nutrients, as well as check for compliance on reduction of nutrients and erosion.

"This is one of the best investments we can make," Rushing said.

The Lake County Land Trust, the Sierra Club several other entities approved the recommendation, Scott De Leon, director of the Department of Water Resources, said.

De Leon also said that data provided by the images would allow the county to receive more grants in the future.

A proposed agreement between the county and SCS Engineers for services at the Eastlake Landfill Gas Recovery System was also approved by the BOS.

Lake County public service director Caroline Chavez said the company would provide professional engineering, design and the contract would begin preparation for a construction bid on the site to extract natural gasses.

A consideration to appoint Supervisor Farrington as a BOS representative to the Marymount College Long Range Planning Advisory Committee was not approved because some members said it might cause a conflict of interest.

Rushing said the college could have sensitive documentation the committee might not want to release to the public. If a BOS representative is present, however, the document becomes public.

They said Farrington could go as a Lake County representative, but not as a BOS member.

There was also the matter of developing an automated phone system for Animal Care and Control.

Rushing and Comstock voiced immediate support.

Farrington also said yes; however, upon hearing concerns from Brown he retracted his support.

Brown said approving the system, which is at no additional cost to the county, would lead to more departments to ask for the same service.

He said the county prefers to have people answer the phone as opposed to a machine.

The BOS moved to have a hybrid, trial system where a person would first answer and the machine would only pick up if no one was available.

Among other items on the agenda, the BOS appointed and reappointed members of the Lake County Planning Commission.

Joe Sullivan was the only member present to take an oath of office, and the remaining four will do so at a later date.

The BOS also approved appointments to more than a dozen committees, councils and boards.

Berenice Quirino is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. She can be reached at 263-5636, ext. 36 or at bereniceq.recordbee@gmail.com.